SETTING STANDARDS FOR THE ON-LINE COMMUNITY
A Comment On The W3c Patent Policy Framework Working Draft
Tom Worthington FACS
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd
http://www.tomw.net.au
11 October 2001
The purpose of this document is to provide comment on the W3C Patent Policy
Framework Working Draft
<http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-patent-policy-20010816/>. W3C should be
commended for deciding to extend the review period
<http://www.w3c.org/2001/10/patent-response>. While the effort to clarify
software patient issues in web standards is admirable, the proposals for
"Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (RAND) Licensing Mode" places at risk
W3C's status as a standard making body and the continued development of the
web.
Most of the proposed policy is a prudent response to an increasingly
litigious society, in particular the requirement for disclosure provisions
by those involved in standards development
<http://www.w3c.org/TR/2001/WD-patent-policy-20010816/#sec-disclosure>. The
procedure for launching new standards development activities as
Royalty-Free Licensing Mode activities appear a reasonable response
<http://www.w3c.org/TR/2001/WD-patent-policy-20010816/#sec-mode>. This is
intended to prevent requests for license fees after a W3C standard has been
finalised.
The difficulty arises with the procedure for launching new standards
development activities with the Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (RAND)
Licensing Mode
<http://www.w3c.org/TR/2001/WD-patent-policy-20010816/#sec-mode>. It has
been argued that future work could be hindered because of the uncertainty
caused by possible patent claims and it would be better if license fees for
use of W3C standards was known. It has also been argued that this proposal
does not change W3C's current policy, in that W3C has never had a licensing
policy. However, these are essentially legal responses to what is a social
issue.
As a standard making body W3C depends on the good will of the Internet
community to support its work. The law has proved itself inadequate to the
task of keeping up with Internet developments. While there is an
understandable desire for certainty by W3C, this is not possible while W3C
is at the forefront of the development of the web. Innovations will
continue to create legal uncertainty. This can only stop if W3C ceases to
contribute new and innovative work.
W3C derives its authority for standards making, not from any legal status,
nor from the commercial power of its members, but by acting as a good
global Internet citizen. In his book "Exploring the Internet - A Technical
Travelogue" <http//museum.media.org/eti/> Carl Malamud wrote of the
problems by a standard maker forgets their obligations. In part W3C was
created as a reaction to the problems with such processes. If W3C proposes
standards that will not be widely used due to licence fees, then it will
lose legitimacy. There will then be a need to create new organisations to
take over that role.
Tom Worthington FACS tom.worthington@tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd ABN: 17 088 714 309
http://www.tomw.net.au PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617
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